That Year
by Soozen
Summary: What happened immediately after Jet's death, and how Smellerbee reacts to it.


"_Said he forgave you; I said I hated you  
He was the bigger man; I was sixteen…."_  
-That Year by Brandi Carlisle

* * *

To say that Smellerbee was a mess was an understatement. She and Longshot had only just escaped from the catacombs of Lake Laogai, narrowly avoiding the Dai Li in doing so. She could only assume that the Dai Li had bigger problems on their hands than two scrappy teens; there was the Avatar to deal with, after all.

Smellerbee had stayed with Jet until Longshot all but dragged her away. He was their leader and he had been dying. _Dying_. She couldn't leave him alone! She couldn't leave him to just- just rot there!

She wasn't dumb, she wasn't fooled by Jet's promises that he'd be okay. She'd never seen Jet not get up after a blow, and Jet had survived some pretty nasty injuries.

After the Avatar and his friends had left, Jet had told her and Longshot to get out of there, that they had to get out without the Dai Li catching them. The longer they stayed with him, the more likely they'd be caught, and he'd be fine.

Smellerbee had yelled at him then, telling him not to fucking _lie_; she knew he wasn't fine. She _knew_-

Longshot had to silence her, before more attention was called to them.

Jet wanted them to abandon him. To leave him here to die _alone_ and Smellerbee couldn't, she just couldn't!

It wasn't until Longshot started pulling on her arm, hoisting her up away from Jet as the pounding of many feet could be heard coming their way that Smellerbee finally caved and fled with Longshot.

Jet had been adamant on this; it was the last thing Smellerbee would ever hear him say. "Now is not the time to fight. You've done well Smellerbee, but now you have to _run_."

And run she did. She and Longshot tore through the stone tunnels, guessing at each turn on which was the way out. On more than one occasion, they nearly ran into the Dai Li. It was partially due to dumb luck that they managed to get out.

It was dark out by the time they escaped, which was fitting, Smellerbee thought. It shouldn't be bright and sunny when she felt so…so…

Angry.

There was no other word for how she felt. She was furious, livid, and the only thing that was keeping her from exploding was the need to keep quiet while they put distance between themselves and Lake Laogai. It became easy to forget they were still inside Ba Sing Se; they were so far from any sort of civilization. It was kind of amazing, how many different settings were in one gigantic city.

It was hours before they stopped, exhausted. They were miles from the lake, miles from anything they recognized, and in the shade of some forest. It felt safe there. Perhaps it was just because they'd lived in a forest for so long, and knew how to get by in it.

Smellerbee had sat down on the ground at the first chance they got. Longshot hadn't. He kept staring off into the distance, holding his bow. She understood that, what he was doing. He was ready to load at any sign of the Dai Li.

Smellerbee was just trying to contain herself. She'd never felt this way before in her life; her parents had always been gone. She hadn't had to mourn over them. But Jet…. This wasn't right. This wasn't the way it was supposed to end for him. He was _Jet_; he was supposed to live forever! He wasn't supposed to die down in some dark dank cavern!

It was wrong, and it was stupid and it was all his stupid fault!

Smellerbee picked up a rock and chucked it as hard as she could at a tree. Behind her, she heard Longshot turn to look at her. She knew he was giving her a questioning look, even if she couldn't see it.

"I hate him," she growled out, and the air suddenly became tense; it was as if she could feel Longshot stiffening.

They were all close, the three of them. But Longshot and Jet were like brothers. He wouldn't take this well, but Smellerbee couldn't keep it in.

"He was so stupid!" She continued, getting to her feet, turning to throw a glare at Longshot, just _daring_ him to defend Jet. "He- he did this! He did it to himself, he did this to us! We were supposed to start a new life, put all this stupid business behind us, and what did he do? He got himself killed!"

Smellerbee picked up another rock and threw that one as well. "I hate him! He didn't even consider us when he just got that stupid idea in his head, that Li and his uncle were Fire Nation!" Another rock was thrown, and then another. "I hate him!"

Longshot didn't move. His head was tilted downward, so that his hat hid his eyes. And that just made Smellerbee even angrier.

"What? You think he did the right thing? Starting that fight, getting caught by the Dai Li, pulling us into this stupid fight? It's his fault he's dead and we're in this mess! It's his fault!"

Tears were fighting to spill, and Smellerbee had to stop what she was doing, to bite down on her lip and concentrate real hard not to cry. She'd already cried once, at Jet's side, and that was unacceptable as is; Freedom Fighters never cried.

She saw Longshot shift slightly, and looked at him. He'd lifted his head, so she could see his eyes, and she was taken aback by all she saw. He was hurt. And he was upset and worried.

And he forgave Jet.

He _forgave_ him.

"You- how can you?" Smellerbee practically screamed at Longshot. "He- he ruined everything! I hate him! I hate what he did to us!"

Longshot looked away again. He wasn't going to argue with her. And that only made her angrier.

Smellerbee knew one thing: she'd never forgive Jet for this. He'd done this. He could have done what they'd planned to do. He could have let his stupid suspicions go, and they could have started a new life. Instead, he had to ruin _everything._

* * *

"_You could have taken some time away  
Instead of a long drop, instead of a leap of faith…."_

* * *

Poor little angry Smellerbee. I've been itching to write this for a while now. I just always pictured Smellerbee to react in an angry way to Jet's death.

Please leave constructive criticisms.


End file.
